BAGHDAD - Iraqi leaders are keeping up contacts with insurgent groups to convince them to join the political process, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said Saturday."Some organizations that consider themselves as part of the national resistance have contacted us and expressed readiness to drop the arms and join the political process, and we have welcomed them," Talabani said.The Iraqi leader, speaking at a ceremony welcoming new ambassadors from Japan and the United States, also praised resolutions ... [full story]

AIX-EN-PROVENCE - A French nun says Pope John Paul II cured her Parkinson's disease two months after he died in 2005.At a news conference Friday in Aix-en-Provence, Sister Marie Simon-Pierre said that the Roman Catholic church would have to decide whether the pope's intercession was miraculous."I have been cured," she said. "My healing was the work of God through the intercession of Pope John Paul II."John Paul is on the fast track for sainthood. The ... [full story]

BAGHDAD - Iraqi leaders are keeping up contacts with insurgent groups to convince them to join the political process, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said Saturday."Some organizations that consider themselves as part of the national resistance have contacted us and expressed readiness to drop the arms and join the political process, and we have welcomed them," Talabani said.The Iraqi leader, speaking at a ceremony welcoming new ambassadors from Japan and the United States, also praised resolutions ... [full story]

MITZPE HILA, Israel - Hundreds of Israelis rallied Friday in support of three kidnapped soldiers.
The demonstration took place outside the home of Gilad Shalit, who was abducted last year in Gaza. About 1,500 people participated, YNetNews reported.
Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were kidnapped by Hezbollah. The abduction was one of the incidents that triggered last year's war with Lebanon.
The protests were held on the eve of Passover. ... [full story]

Dominican Republic - Gary Stephen Kaplan was arrested late Wednesday, March 28, in the Dominican Republic, U.S. Attorney Catherine L. Hanaway for the Eastern District of Missouri announced today.
The arrest stems from a federal grand jury indictment returned in the Eastern District of Missouri on June 1, 2006. The indictment names Kaplan and 10 other individuals and four corporations. In 22 counts, the indictment alleges that the defendants engaged in racketeering, conspiracy and fraud, ... [full story]

Mexico - The mega container port and rail project planned 150 miles south of San Diego at Baja California's Punta Colonet will benefit the United States as well as Mexico, a top Mexican federal official said recently.
"This is a very important project. It's a project that should be taken in the interest of both nations. Even though it's on Mexican soil, the United States should be interested in this project," said Manuel Rodriguez Arregui, ... [full story]

SEATTLE - An accused drug trafficker lived the good life in Mexico for 14 years before U.S. agents tracked him down, federal marshals said Thursday.
Jeffery Jay Warren, 57, was arrested by Mexican police as he returned to his home in Puerto Vallarta, the U.S. Marshals service reported. He was being held in Mexico pending extradition proceedings.
Jeffery Jay Warren, 57. Photo: US Marshalls Warren was one of 16 people charged by the U.S. Attorney's ... [full story]

SPLIT, Croatia - A judge in Croatia's central Adriatic city of Split ordered a couple held for 30 days while police investigate allegations they mistreated their six children.
Ana Asanovic, 29, and her common-law husband Tonci Zuban, 42, were arrested on suspicion they abused their children, aged 4-12, beating them and locking them in a shed without water and food on many occasions, the Croatian daily newspaper Vecernje List of Zagreb reported Thursday.
Police were advised ... [full story]

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistani Air Force Chief Tanvir Ahmed says his country plans to acquire up to 250 JF-17 Thunder fighters from China.
The disclosure, made in an interview with Jane's Defense Weekly, is far more than the 150 fighters originally planned, reports India's Press Trust of India news agency.
Ahmed was quoted as saying there were "no issues" over using Russian engines in JF-17s, although there have been questions regarding Russia's objections to re-exporting RRD-93 ... [full story]

BOGOTA - Thousands of Colombians fled their homes in 2006 for fear of being swept up in the country's conflict, the Red Cross said Thursday.
"In 2006 once again, thousands were forced to flee their homes as a result of pressure to participate in hostilities, death threats, killing of family members and the danger of being caught in crossfire," said Barbara Hintermann, head of the delegation in Colombia of the International Committee of the Red Cross. ... [full story]

MEXICO CITY - Officials have begun discussing the possibility of legalizing abortion in Mexico City, sparking debate between activists and the Catholic Church in Mexico.
Lawmakers have kicked off debate about whether to make abortion legal, El Universal reported Thursday.
Women's rights groups in the predominantly Catholic country have come out in favor of the proposed law, while the church remains adamantly opposed.
If the law is approved, Mexican women could travel from anywhere in the ... [full story]

DHAKA, Bangladesh - A United Nations official probing the deaths of 27 people in Bangladesh has accused its security forces of staging extra-judicial killings.
Philip Alston said Bangladesh authorities have not answered his request for information on the recent deaths, although they have said the deaths were the result of crossfire in police shootouts, reports the BBC.
The report said government officials, disputing the figures, had said criminals who were killed had fired first on security ... [full story]

TIJUANA, Mexico - Modern new car dealerships have materialized here in a city where most buyers once shopped for used cars at tiny dirt lots bedecked with brightly colored, flapping plastic flags.
"The market used to be used cars from the United States," said Roberto Gonzalez, manager of a Volkswagen dealership on Boulevard Sanchez Taboada.
"In the last three years, it has become new cars."
A few years ago, Gonzalez was one of the first ... [full story]